Molecular Characterization of Grapevine Rootstocks Maintained in Germplasm Collections

Abstract

Grapevine rootstocks are a complex group of plants, most of them hybrids derived from native North American Vitis species that are used to provide resistance against phylloxera and soilborne problems. A representative group of rootstock accessions and cultivars of the Vitis species commonly used in rootstock breeding (V. vinifera, V. berlandieri, V. riparia, and V. rupestris) and conserved in the largest European germplasm banks of Vitis were analyzed using sequence tagged microsatellite sites (STMS) and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. The STMS analysis allowed assigning a microsatellite genotype to most of root-stock cultivars, although it revealed numerous misclassified accessions in the studied collections. Genetic similarity among the different genotypes was analyzed using AFLP, which provided information on the genetic relationships within and between hybrid groups.